Visitor looks out from the Viewing Level towards a luxury block of flats from the Tate Modern gallery in London, Britain, February 12, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
LONDON: Residents of a luxury London block who are trying to stop visitors to the neighbouring Tate Modern art gallery peering into their glass-walled apartments won their privacy case at the United Kingdom's Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The owners of four flats in the nearby Neo Bankside development took the Tate to court after the gallery opened an extension in 2016 featuring a panoramic platform on its top floor, which gives visitors clear views of the inside of some flats.
They applied to London's High Court for an injunction requiring the Tate to prevent its visitors from viewing their flats from the viewing platform, but their case was dismissed in 2019 and they lost an appeal the following year.
But, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court overturned those verdicts and allowed the flat owners' appeal by a 3-2 majority.
Announcing the court's decision, Judge George Leggatt said that the "visual intrusion" of people looking into the flats from the Tate's viewing platform was "a clear case of nuisance".
He added: "The Tate is liable to the claimants under the law of nuisance. To decide on the appropriate remedy, the case will be sent back to the High Court."
